The general objective of this invention is to provide a safety guard system for a truss lumber component cutting apparatus of the class shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,998. In that patent and in several others referenced therein, a production machine for cutting wood components for prefabricated trusses and the like is disclosed. In the machine, during the cutting procedure, lumber pieces are moved through a plurality of relatively stationary circular saw blades by a lumber conveyor. The saw blades are individually mounted so that they can be angularly positioned through a wide range to produce various angle cuts on the ends of lumber components. One gang of saw blades is held on a stationary support system while a second laterally opposing gang is held on a movable support system which can be moved toward and from the stationary support system. The distance between the stationary and movable support systems determines the lengths of lumber components being cut.
A pair of conveyors is mounted on each support system to move the lumber sections through the rotating saw blades at a uniform speed with the longitudinal axis of each lumber piece held perpendicular to its path of movement through the saw blade. To achieve this relationship, the conveyors on the two support systems are synchronously driven.
Because any rotating machinery presents a potential hazard to nearby workers, a guarding system according to the present invention has been devised including guard sections which adjust automatically with variations in the length and thickness of workpieces being produced. As a result of this arrangement, only a small ungarded opening is created at the discharge side of the apparatus.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following detailed description.